Again, Jericho was tempted to pretend ignorance. But he was too adept at picking up clues to miss what Judd was telling him. He closed his journal, making sure to tuck the picture of Rodney well out of sight. Then he pushed himself up until he was sitting, his bare feet planted on the plank floor.

“Do you want me to admit I’m attracted to Ivy?”

“Reckon it’s about time.”

Jericho had always fought against such an admission. Even now he didn’t want to acknowledge that maybe—just maybe—he’d been drawn to Ivy all along. Whatever the case, he couldn’t give in to the craving.

“Admitting to it won’t do her or me any good.” That was an understatement of a lifetime.

“Snubbing it ain’t doin’ you a lick of good either.”

Was Judd referring to the interaction with Hance earlier that evening? Jericho hadn’t intended to get carried away with the target shooting and the bullying. Watching Ivy sitting on the bench with Hance had been hard enough. But seeing them holding hands and cozying up together had been more than he could stand.

“He was moving too fast with her.” Jericho’s words came out defensive and sounded weak, even to his own ears.

“Reckon he could have been movin’ as slow as a half-baked turtle in the desert, and it still would have been too fast in your book.”

Jericho rubbed a hand across his forehead and kneaded his temples. The bald, plain-faced truth was that he’d been jealous. He didn’t like seeing Ivy with any other men, not any more now than he had in the past.

“Blast it all.” He blew out a tense breath. “What should I do?”

Maybe he needed to get a bed at the hotel in town after all. He’d told himself he was only staying for a couple of days, but now that he was situated, he hadn’t wanted to leave.

“Instead of skirtin’ a swamp, best thing is to slog through it.”

Judd insinuated that walking around the issue of his attraction to Ivy would cause him to get stuck. But he was already stuck. Stuck in Fairplay. Stuck at Healing Springs Ranch. And stuck with seeing Ivy every time he walked two steps in any direction. “I can’t.”

The pages of Judd’s Bible rustled as he flipped through them. “Good thing for us, we ain’t alone in the slogging. The Lord says in Psalm 37, ‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.’”